Press Release - March 5, 2003

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in Canada (HKETO) and the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) are proud to announce that two Canadian journalism students have won the Student Journalists Hong Kong Fellowship for the year 2002/03.

The winners are Myles Leslie (University of British Columbia, B.C.) and Lyla Miller (Carleton University, Ottawa).

They were chosen by a panel of three adjudicators selected from the National Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Journalists. The judges are Saleem Khan, a Toronto-based independent journalist; Trudi Beutel, Richmond-news in British Columbia and Karen Pauls of CBC Radio in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The winners were selected because of the strength of their applications, which included story proposals and their confirmation that they would publish or broadcast their stories about Hong Kong in the local media or in their university/school journals or newsletters.

The Director of the HKETO, Mrs. Rosanna Ure, said: �Hong Kong is a fascinating place, with a unique history and an interesting blend of culture. Budding journalists will find Hong Kong a colorful, vibrant and sophisticated city, which provides them with endless ideas and inspirations. The HKETO is pleased to know that the Fellowship has attracted such a strong interest among Canadian student journalists and we look forward to welcoming the winners to Hong Kong � Asia�s world city.�

Echoing Mrs. Ure, the President of the CAJ, Mr. Rob Cribb said: "It's a pleasure to be able to recognize some of Canada's excellent young journalists and give them a rare opportunity to stretch themselves, think about new ideas and get exposure to a different culture. We think they'll return better journalists with broader perspective and greater skills."

The purpose of the fellowship is to offer students of all recognised journalism schools in Canada an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People�s Republic of China. Funding for this new project comes from the Hong Kong SAR Government.

The winners will receive a return economy class air ticket between Canada and Hong Kong and hotel accommodation for six nights and seven days.

Prior to the trip, the HKETO will help the winners research their chosen subjects by providing them with information on Hong Kong and helping them arrange interviews, visits to various points of interest, and meetings with people of diverse views and cultural backgrounds.

Separately, applications for the Dateline Hong Kong Fellowship 2003 for working journalists will be called in May.


For more information, please contact the HKETO�s Chief Information Officer, Mr. John Tam, at 416-924-5544 or e-mail: [email protected], or CAJ�s Executive Director, Mr. John Dickins, at 613-526-8061 or e-mail: [email protected].